Facebook sees 52-per cent increase in first quarter

Social media juggernaut Facebook had a banner first quarter, seeing a 52-per cent increase in gross revenue, and a three-fold increase in profit over the same period in 2015, it reported Wednesday.

The Menlo Park, California-based tech company saw revenue of $5.38-billion (R78.08-billion) versus $3.5-billion in the first three months of last year.

Net income was $1.5 billion versus $512 million a year prior.

“We had a great start to the year,” Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement.

“We’re focused on our 10-year road map to give everyone in the world the power to share anything they want with anyone.”

The world’s largest online network counted 1.65 billion active users at the end of March. The company’s stocks jumped approximately 7 percent in reaction to the news.

The company said mobile advertising revenue rose from 73 per cent of advertising revenue in the first quarter of 2015 to approximately 82 percent in the first quarter of 2016.

Facebook also announced it would issue a new class of stocks. The step will allow company founder Zuckerberg to retain control over the company even if he sells some of his stock.

“This proposal is designed to create a capital structure that will, among other things, allow us to remain focused on Mr Zuckerberg’s long-term vision for our company and encourage Mr Zuckerberg to remain in an active leadership role at Facebook,” the company said.